Africa-Lancaster Springboard for International Collaboration

Lancaster University Ghana has hosted a high level research and enterprise development event to bring together Lancaster University staff with representatives from academia, business, government in Ghana and the wider West African area.

The Springboard event is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the Research Councils’ Global Challenges Research Fund.

The purpose of the Africa-Lancaster Springboard for International Collaboration is to develop plans for research-led projects between the University and partners in Africa. Potential research projects will focus on sustainable development goals, supporting equitable growth and positive environmental impacts across Africa. Funding from EPSRC will be used to take forward ideas through pilot collaborative research projects.

The first day was a high-level strategic conference to agree and set priorities, looking particularly at university-business collaboration in Africa, followed by two days of intensive discussion and preparation of project ideas.

Professor Steve Bradley, Pro Vice-Chancellor International said that a clear message from partners was that sustainable development on the continent demanded a transformation in the way research and business work together to drive “Green Growth” or eco-innovation.

“Effective collaboration between university-based researchers, policy makers and business has the capacity to drive forward this transformation as Africa develops and deploys its strategies for “Green Growth”.

“Green Growth needs innovative, commercially successful products, services and technologies that reduce the impacts of human activities on the environment. Lancaster is delighted to be able to work with partners in West Africa as part of a true knowledge-exchange to address these challenges.”

Professor Nigel Paul, Director of Global Eco-Innovation, Lancaster University said there was €1.5 billion about to be disbursed from the British Government to support scientific research and that Lancaster University would launch an African model of the eco-innovation developed with the University of Benin, Nigeria.

He also said it would to improve on research among Universities in West Africa and link it to businesses and that it was an opportunity for African countries to learn from their European counterparts and build the infrastructure to grow their economies

Over the next five years, this will lead to larger collaborative research projects which the University will seek funding for from the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).

More images of the event are on twitter at #LU_GCRF